Many games that use playing cards are known and played for many decades. Blackjack and poker are two examples of such games.
The basic premise of conventional blackjack is to obtain a hand value that is closer to twenty one than that of the dealer (also referred to as “House”), without going over twenty one (referred to as “busting”). The hand values of other players at the table are not relevant. Each player's hand is strictly played out against the hand of the House. The rules of play for the House are strictly dictated, leaving no decisions up to the House.
In blackjack, each card is assigned a numerical point value. An Ace can have a value of either one or eleven, whichever is more beneficial for the player. Cards from Two through Ten are assigned their face value. The Jack, Queen, and King are all valued at ten. The suits of the cards are not relevant. The value of a hand is simply the sum of the numerical values of each card in the hand. For example, a hand containing (5,7,9) has a value of twenty one.
A hand that contains an Ace is called a “soft” total if the Ace can be counted as either one or eleven without busting. For example, a hand which consists of Ace and Six is a soft seventeen. The description stems from the fact that the player can always draw another card to a soft total with no danger of going over twenty one. A hand which consists of Ace, Six, and Ten is a “hard” 17, since the Ace can only be given a value of one, because counting it as eleven would make the hand total greater than twenty one.
Once all the bets are made, the dealer deals the cards to the players. The dealer typically makes two passes around the table starting at his left so that the players and the dealer have two cards each. The dealer will flip one of his cards over, exposing its value.
The players' cards are typically dealt face down. Once the cards are dealt, play proceeds around the table, starting at the first seat to the dealer's left. Each player in turn indicates to the dealer how he wishes to play the hand. Typically, each player has the option of drawing one or more additional cards (referred to as “hitting”) until the player is satisfied with his/her hand or busts. The player also has the option to stop at the current total (referred to as “standing”) at any time. After each player has finished his hand, the dealer will complete his hand, and then pay or collect the player bets.
As discussed above, the House must play its hand in a pre-determined manner. Two popular rule variations for House drawing rules are known. The most common rule is the House stands when the hand of the house reaches a value of seventeen or higher. An Ace in the hand of the House is always counted as eleven if possible without the House going over twenty one.
An alternative rule for playing House hands permits the House to hit on a soft seventeen. This rule is similar to the above rule, except when the House hand has a value of soft seventeen, such as (Ace,6), (Ace,5,Ace), and (Ace, 2, 4). In this case, the House is permitted to hit such hands, and is required to stand on a soft eighteen or higher, or a hard seventeen or higher. This rule provides the House with a slightly higher advantage against the players.
Other features of blackjack, such as surrender, splitting, doubling down, and insurance are also known.
The term “poker” actually refers to a family of games that typically involve placing monetary bets. In poker, a standard deck of 52 cards is generally used. Each card is considered to have a rank and a suit. The rank of the card is the apparent value of the card. The highest rank of a card is an Ace, followed by a King, a Queen, a Jack, and then in descending numerical order from Ten to Two. The suit of the card is the group of objects to which the card belongs, as indicated by the symbol shown on the face of the card. There are four suits: Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. The rank/suit combination of each of the 52 cards in the deck is unique, i.e., there is exactly one Ace of Spades in the deck, there is exactly one Six of Diamonds, there is exactly one Queen of Clubs, etc.
The objective of poker is to obtain a five-card hand having as high a ranking as possible. The ranking order of poker hands is as follows: 1) straight flush (i.e., five consecutively ranked cards of the same suit); 2) four of a kind (i.e., all four cards in the deck that have the same rank); 3) full house (i.e., three cards having a first rank combined with a pair of cards having a second rank); 4) flush (i.e., five cards of the same suit, regardless of rank); 5) straight (i.e., five consecutively ranked cards of the same suit); 6) three of a kind; 7) two pairs; 8) one pair; and 9) high card.
There are many variations on the basic theme in poker. For example, poker is often played competitively among three to seven players. On any given hand, the player who displays the highest ranking poker hand at the end of the hand wins that hand. Most known poker variations include rounds of wagering, where players may bet, check, or fold their hand. Typically, the reward for winning a hand is that the player wins all of the money, chips, or other wagering units that are in the pot, i.e., the money or chips that have been bet by the players during the course of the hand.
One group of poker games is known as stud poker. In stud poker, the player is typically dealt two or three cards, and then the player places a bet based on the initial deal. Then, the player may be dealt cards one at a time, with bets being placed in between each dealing of a card. The player is dealt his last card, which often is either the fifth card or the seventh card, and a last bet is placed. Then, the player reveals his hand, and either wins or loses based on the ranking of his hand. Although the player may have been dealt seven cards, he must choose which five cards out of those seven that he wishes to use for his poker hand. The game can be varied by dealing some cards face up (i.e., all other players can see the card) and some cards face down (i.e., only the player dealt that card can see it); or it can be varied by virtue of the betting rules that are typically declared prior to the beginning of the hand; or it can be varied by declaring certain cards as being “wild cards”. When a card is wild, that means that it can be used to substitute for any card chosen by the player. So, for example, if Deuces are wild, and a player is dealt three Sevens and a Deuce, that player would typically use the Deuce as being a fourth Seven, thus yielding a poker hand holding of four of a kind.
In another variation, community cards can be used. Community cards are cards that are commonly held by all players. Typically, the community cards are dealt face down, and bets are placed each time a community card is revealed.
Another type of poker game is known as draw poker. In draw poker, each player is usually dealt five cards, and then the player is given an opportunity to discard several cards and draw replacement cards from the remaining undealt portion of the deck. In one popular version of five-card draw poker, the players are allowed to discard no more than three of the originally dealt cards, unless the player holds an Ace and wishes to discard all four of his cards other than the Ace. Bets are placed before the draw and after the draw. In another popular variation, when playing as an individual against the house, a player may be permitted to discard any or all of his cards. A player typically places only one bet on each hand, prior to the initial deal of cards.
In recent years, with the advent of the Internet, playing card games, such as poker and blackjack over the Internet has become popular. Blackjack is played against the House, which may be an on-line casino or the like. Poker is played against the House or against other on-line players.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a card game which provides greater enjoyment by permitting players to play blackjack against each other rather than the House. Further, there is a need to provide a card game which combines hand values of blackjack with the betting features of poker.